Texan Named to Twitter's Board of Directors

Texarkana-born Marjorie Scardino is the first woman appotinted to Twitter's board of directors.

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Social media giant Twitter announced Thursday that Marjorie Scardino – Texarkana native, Baylor grad and former Pearson CEO – is joining its board of directors. Scardino is the first woman to be appointed to Twitter’s board.

Scardino received a little more than 4,000 shares of Twitter to serve on its board, according to SEC filings. She comes onboard after the company was criticized for not having women in high company positions. Twitter went public in November and is estimated to be worth more than $20 billion.

Scardino led educational publishing company Pearson for more than 10 years until 2012. During that time, she tripled its profits to a record $1.5 billion.

In true Twitter form, Scardino issued her first statement on the announcement via Twitter.

“There couldn’t be a more exciting time in Twitter’s history to join!” she tweeted Thursday.

Scardino’s appointment is effective immediately. She will serve on Twitter’s audit committee and replace David Rosenblatt, CEO of 1stdibbs.com, on the board. Rosenblatt will continue to serve on the Twitter compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees.

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